Working Mother magazine again has chosen Eli Lilly and Company as one of the ten best companies in America for working mothers. Lilly has been recognized by the magazine each year since 1995 and has appeared on its top ten list four times since 1996. A complete report of Working Mother's 2000 "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" can be found in the October issue of Working Mother and on its Web site www.workingmother.com.

"This outstanding honor should be shared by everyone at Lilly who has participated in or who has nurtured and supported our work/life initiatives," said Sidney Taurel, Lilly chairman, president, and chief executive officer.

"It is important to us that our work/life initiatives have been recognized again because we've deliberately set out to attract top talent and be the best place to work," Taurel said. "We began with the development and implementation of work/life programs, such as flexible hours and child care. Since then, we have been working hard to create a corporate culture in which the requirements of work and the needs we all have in our personal lives are truly balanced, for working mothers and for all our employees.

"We believe that maintaining a work environment at Lilly that is conducive to overall quality of life contributes directly to the achievement of our business performance goals.

"This is very much a result of the cultural change at Lilly that focuses on results - on output rather than input - and takes a holistic approach by focusing on the needs and development of the whole person."

When Working Mother magazine started the "100 Best" list in 1986, editors were hard-pressed to find more than 30 companies that qualified, said Lisa Benenson, editor-in-chief of Working Mother. "This year, however, the competition was tougher than ever before," she said.

"It was not enough for a company to build a small child care center at the home office; to make this year’s list, the company had to demonstrate that a significant number of employees company-wide were receiving benefits. In other words, businesses had to be more creative and proactive in finding ways to accommodate their employees’ work/life needs. For this, their commitment and ingenuity is to be commended."

Lilly was especially noted for its two child-development centers; the summer camp programs for employees' children; summer job opportunities for older offspring; generous maternity leave and paternity leave; and telecommuting options.

Lilly work/life initiatives include:

Two Indianapolis child care centers, each for about 225 children

Adoption assistance covering up to $10,000 of eligible expenses

Flexible work arrangements, including flextime, part-time, job sharing, and telecommuting

Science summer camp, in cooperation with the YMCA, offering a ten-week program for school-age children with hands-on science activities

Paid leaves for maternity, new fathers, and adoptive and foster parents

Elder care consultation and referral services, including support and information-sharing groups

On-site conveniences, including credit union, convenience store, dry cleaner and take-home food services

Financial services, including financial planning and investment services.
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orking Mother selected 2000's 100 Best Companies based on six criteria: child care, leave for new parents, flexible work arrangements, work/life benefits such as elder care and adoption assistance, and opportunities for women to advance. Editors looked at a range of supportive company offerings, including health insurance premiums, availability of time off to care for sick kids, mentoring programs and extras such as on-site gyms and other conveniences.

Working Mother Magazine, founded in 1979, reaches more than 3 million readers each month, and is the only national business magazine written for executive and entrepreneurial mothers. It is part of Working Woman Network, a leading global resource for businesswomen in today's digital economy, which also includes Working Woman magazine, the National Association for Female Executives, a conference division, Businesswomen's Research Institute and The Business Women's Network. In August 2000, WWN launched www.WorkingWoman.com, the first online resource center exclusively for women in business.

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers - through medicines and information - for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Further information is available at www.lilly.com.

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